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Folks, we are falling behind. The chillier mornings make us squirrels want to stay in our leaf nests longer. Then we eat to get warm. Then we need to run around and collect acorns, and that makes us tired again. It puts other tasks out of our heads. I’m sure you humans experience this from time to time.

So let’s go simple today: a little photo sequence of ladybugs, from larvae growing to adulthood.

Pretty neat, huh? Though closer looks at those Milkweed leaves makes us squirrels wonder why any animal would eat them–meaning Monarch caterpillars, not ladybugs. They live on the Milkweed leaves because of the aphids–look for the smaller orange dots–which both ladybug adults and larvae eat.

Apparently these beetles do not eat harmful aphids like the ladybugs, but instead eat the leaves of Milkweed plants, preferring, it seems, the Swamp Milkweed, so they are often called Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetles. This of course, is harmful to milkweed plants, which many of you humans would like to save for Monarch caterpillars to feed on.

Sorry to say, it’s very hard to control what bugs find your plants, just like it’s hard for us squirrels to know who might dig up our acorns.

This friendly little insect is truly a beetle. It has two hard outer coverings–the red parts–that cover the wings. The name for the beetle group describes this rather nicely: Coleoptera. It’s from Greek words koleos–sheath– and pteron–wing. That’s sheathed wings, and if you look carefully when one takes off, that’s exactly what you’ll see! Kind of appropriate, when you also know this little warrior goes after other insects.

Hey, here’s an insect you probably see quite often—in it’s larval stage, so you may not recognize it.

Have a guess and I’ll check back later.

~~~

Ha, it’s a gardener’s favorite, the ladybug!

The orange and black stay with the insect its whole life and I bet many of you would like to learn to recognize it. Why? Because ladybugs eat other garden pests – like these aphids. They are fierce predators!

Here is one of the large shedding its skin to metamorphose into the adult Ladybird beetle.